


Hope Burns Bright

by hyacinthsky



Category: DCU, Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Space, Angst, Blue Lantern Dick Grayson, Friends to Lovers, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Red Lantern Wally West, Slow Burn, Temporary Amnesia, listen these boys got some shit to work out before they can kiss, or as slow as I can stand tbh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-02
Updated: 2019-07-02
Packaged: 2020-06-02 21:34:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19449943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyacinthsky/pseuds/hyacinthsky
Summary: The others had all fallen silent. “I’m sorry, Wally. I’m sorry about all of this.”“It’s okay,” he whispered. “You don’t have to be sorry, because we’re gonna make it okay.”After the devastating loss of Artemis, Wally is left adrift in space with no memory of how or why he got there. With Dick his only companion, Wally must piece together the remnants of his life to forge a new path forward.





	Hope Burns Bright

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be posted on the last day of DickWally Week, but because I suck I'm going to pretend that it was planned for the release of the second half of Young Justice Season 3.  
> Speaking of, if you haven't seen Season 2 recently, you may be somewhat confused, as this is a canon-heavy fic with plot points pulled from the show.

It was in the summer of 1999 when Wally first saw the end of the world.

He had been crammed into the backseat of the family sedan alongside all the other trappings of an uprooted middle-class life. Knees tucked firmly against his chest and eyes glued to his Game Boy, he didn’t notice them pulling off the mountain highway until they had rolled to a stop.

Wally couldn’t remember what his parents had said to each other, only that there was yelling and that his father slammed the car door when he got out. On instinct, Wally had turned down the volume on his game and tucked the device under his seat, pressing his face against the car window so he didn’t accidentally make eye contact with either of them.

It was years later when Wally would learn about the wildfires that had ripped through the Ozarks, clearing out the land for new growth. But in that moment, face pressed against the warm glass, all Wally saw was death. The jagged, black skeletons of once-beautiful trees cut through the gray horizon. The soft green grass of summer was gone, replaced with darkened earth and mats of shriveled plant fiber. And, most spectacularly, snow fell in heavy flakes from the sky. Wally’s lips parted in terrible awe as it settled on the ground in uneven clumps.

He turned to his mother to point out the amazing sight, but the words died in his throat when he saw that her head was in her hands and her shoulders were shaking with silent sobs.

It was only when Wally looked back that he realized. It wasn’t snow; it was ash.

* * *

Wally awoke with a start, certain that he was alone.

Almost instantly he squeezed his eyes shut, gritting his teeth against an onslaught of pain. His whole body thrummed with a dull ache, extremities trembling and breath shallow. The worst of it, however, was in his chest. It felt as though his insides had been hollowed out and he had been left an empty husk. He couldn’t help but let out a strangled sob, tears welling up behind his lids.

There was a shuffling noise before a cool cloth was pressed to his forehead. Only with the soft touch did Wally realize he was burning up; he thrashed, the heavy blankets suddenly unbearable against his overheated skin. Someone cooed wordlessly as they moved to help, gathering the blankets up.

Wally clumsily reached out, fingers brushing against their calloused hands. There was a moment of hesitation, a brief waver in their movements before they pulled away. Wally managed to force his eyes open once more, blinking to clear his vision as his caretaker turned to face him.

“Dick?” he croaked, wincing at how much the name grated against his throat.

Wally could see the dark circles under Dick’s eyes. His skin had a wan pallor to it, and his posture was unusually hunched for someone so dedicated to physical health. But Dick’s smile felt as real as ever, and the sight of it had the hollow feeling in Wally’s chest fade away. “Hey Walls.”

Wally let out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding. “Dick… are you okay? You look exhausted.”

Surprise flickered across Dick’s face before he threw back his head and _laughed_. “I’m just fine. Best I’ve been in a long time. You just worry about yourself, okay?” He patted Wally’s arm and stood. “I’m gonna go get you something to drink, you’re probably parched as hell.”

Dick ducked out of the room, and as Wally watched him go, he really took in his surroundings for the first time. The room was small and dimly lit with pale blue fairy lights strung high on the walls. There were no windows, and upon closer inspection, what Wally had assumed to be white plaster walls were actually made of a smooth metal. Twisting his head, Wally saw that the bed itself was actually a pull-out, and that there was an indentation in the wall next to him that indicated a second bed.

Dick was holding two steaming mugs when he came back in, setting them down on the nightstand beside Wally before sliding his hands underneath Wally’s back to help him sit up.

Wally groaned at the movement but went with it, adjusting until he could comfortably be upright without danger of his washcloth falling off. Dick handed him one of the mugs and Wally tentatively took a sip before recoiling at the taste. It was simultaneously sweet and bitter, with a nutty flavor unlike anything Wally had ever tried before. The drink looked blue, but Wally wasn’t sure if that was just the lighting.

He stared for a few seconds, then took another sip. Odd flavor aside, the liquid _was_ a huge relief on his throat. In fact, with every passing moment, the ache in Wally’s bones began to dissipate and his mind cleared, leaving him more able to contemplate his strange surroundings and the concerning fact that he couldn’t remember anything about how he could’ve gotten here.

When Wally felt confident in his ability to speak, he cleared his throat to catch Dick’s attention. “What is this stuff?”

“Some kind of drink derived from a plant that grows in the Fluvian Kingdoms. Apparently, the plant is just a food for the O'Lav, but when Fluvia started interstellar trade someone had the bright idea to make it into a drink.” Dick grinned crookedly. “Long story short, it’s basically space herbal tea.”

“So we’re in space?”

Dick’s smile fell. “Ah, yeah. I wasn’t sure if you would remember what – if you would remember or not.”

Wally gazed down at his mug, rubbing his thumb alongside the rim. “Okay, so, _why_ are we in space?”

Dick was silent for a long time. When Wally glanced over, he saw that Dick was gnawing on his lip in a way that always meant that he was considering his next move carefully.

“Was it because of the Reach?” Wally offered. He felt like he would’ve remembered something as momentous as the Earth being blown up or completely colonized, but he also would’ve figured that he would remember his first non-orbital space flight.

“Ah… kinda.” At this point, Dick had set his mug down and his arms were crossed. “Do you remember our final confrontation with the Reach and the Light?”

Wally’s brows furrowed. “Yeah, I think. We needed to turn them against each other so we could get evidence of the League’s innocence, plus finally get Kaldur and Artemis out of deep cover…”

He trailed off, wincing as his head suddenly throbbed. He – he had been so desperate to see Artemis again after so much time apart that he hardly remembered the mission briefing, only the way he had barely been able to sit still as Dick talked. And when he had first rushed into the cave and seen _her,_ standing triumphant as her efforts came to fruition, he had felt like they were all invincible, even if for just a moment. And when… and when he had seen Vandal Savage and Klarion about to escape, to undermine their victory, he–

–Wally was dimly aware that he had dropped his mug, which had rolled off the bed and broken against the floor with a loud crash–

–There was a loud _whoosh_ noise, and Wally’s vision went red as the portal closed behind him. Savage looked surprised, but his expression quickly morphed into a cruel grin. “You _are_ a tenacious bunch,” he drawled. He nodded at Klarion, who grinned wickedly and snapped his fingers, fire engulfing his form as he dissipated.

“I suppose there are those among you that are intelligent enough to be a thorn in my side.” Savage continued, “But you? You’re hardly a threat, little hero. Trying to stop me was a mistake.”

Wally ignored him, eyes darting around to take in his surroundings. He had definitely never been here before, but he recognized the alien architecture from Dick’s descriptions. He was in Warworld, and Vandal Savage held the key. This could be their only chance to get the dangerous weapon out of enemy hands once and for all.

Dick was saying something in his comms, but Wally tapped his earpiece to turn them off. If he wanted to go toe-to-toe with Savage, he couldn’t afford to concentrate on what Dick was saying –

–Dick was whispering something in his ear as he wrapped his arms around Wally’s shoulders. He rocked the two of them back and forth as Wally’s chest heaved with sobs–

–Wally’s chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath. He was curled up behind a computer terminal, one arm clutching the crystal key and the other hanging uselessly at his side. Savage had almost certainly broken his arm, and by the way that every breath hurt, he could safely guess that a few ribs were busted as well. Most concerning, his ankle was either broken or badly sprained.

Using his shoulder, he tapped his comms to life once more. Almost instantly, his hearing was flooded with a myriad of voices, but in the moment, there was only one that he cared about.

“Hey babe,” he rasped, “Miss me?”

“You son of a bitch,” Artemis laughed, but Wally could hear the tremor in her voice and it made his heart ache. “Do you have any idea how worried I was about you?”

“I do, actually.” Wally closed his eyes and let his head rest against the wall behind him.

The others had all fallen silent. “I’m sorry, Wally. I’m sorry about all of this.”

“It’s okay,” he whispered. “You don’t have to be sorry, because we’re gonna make it okay.” Wally took a deep breath before continuing. “The portal took me to Warworld. I’ve managed to snag the crystal key, but I need a way off this hunk of junk. Some backup would also be appreciated, since there’s a very angry Vandal Savage currently trying to find me so he can pop my head like a pimple.”

Artemis laughed again, and this time Wally couldn’t help but smile at the sound. “Well, I’m disturbed.”

“You had better get turbed,” Dick cut in, startling Wally. He had forgotten there were others on the line. “KF, I’m gonna send a map with a rendezvous point marked, so you’ll need to get over there ASAP. We will meet you there for pickup.”

Wally grunted a confirmation as the display in his goggles lit up with the promised 3D map.

“Stay in contact this time,” Dick chided. “I – we were all concerned.” 

There was a crashing noise, and for a moment Wally’s throat closed up, thinking that something awful had happened on their end; he then heard the sound of heavy footsteps getting closer.

“Shit,” he hissed, struggling to his feet. His ankle throbbed in protest.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, but you should probably hurry, because I think I’m about to have a problem.” Wally glanced over the terminal, pulse skyrocketing as he saw Vandal Savage at the end of the corridor, moving with a terrible purpose.

Adrenaline buzzing in his ears, he whipped around, moving as fast as he could. He wasn’t going to die here. Not like this.

He hardly felt the pain from his injuries as he began to stumble down the hallway–

–He hardly felt the pain from where the scalding tea had spilled on him, too wrapped up in his own head. Dick was pressing something against his burns, but because of the tears in his eyes, Wally could hardly see–

–Wally could hardly see past the swelling in his left eye, his right having been stuck shut with dried blood. Even still, he snarled at Savage from where he lay on the floor, watching as the huge man contemplated the crystal key in his hand.

“You fought well, little hero,” Savage mused, “Though I suppose that’s cold comfort, considering your death will nevertheless have been pointless.”

He strode closer, resting his boot on Wally’s chest. The weight of it made Wally cough, bloody spit running down his chin.

“It _is_ a pity you have to die. Your metahuman powers are certainly useful, if not unfortunately inferior to those of your mentor. You could’ve been an interesting test subject; but alas, there are far more important things that have been set in motion.”

Savage began to press down, and Wally cried out as he felt more of his ribs crack under the weight. Unbidden tears rolled down his face. His good hand scrabbled uselessly against the floor, and in a moment of terrible clarity, he wished that he had told Artemis he loved her one last time.

A bloodcurdling cry ripped through the air, followed by the whistle of an arrow. Savage suddenly stumbled forward, grunting in pain as he turned to face his assailant. The movement forced him to take his foot off of Wally’s chest, who gasped, trying to take in as much air as he could.

Artemis stood in the hallway, hair wild and face twisted with fury. She was still wearing her Tigress uniform, and her crossbow was trained on Vandal Savage.

“Get the fuck away from my boyfriend,” she snarled, letting another bolt fly.

It struck Savage’s chest dead center. He grunted again, pulling out the bolt, but as he did so a surprised look flashed across his face. He dropped the crystal key as he seemed to lose his balance, swaying precariously on his feet. Wally took the opportunity to roll over, pushing himself up with his good arm and starting to crawl towards Artemis.

She rushed over, hooking her arms underneath his armpits and hoisting him up, adjusting his position until his good arm was slung around her shoulders. Wally’s gaze flitted to Savage, who had fallen to his knees and was breathing heavily.

“It was coated in a drug developed by my dad,” Artemis clarified, “It should put him out for a long, long time.”

“The key,” Wally gasped. Artemis nodded, hauling both of them over to where the crystal key lay on the floor. Savage was resting on his hands and was sweating profusely, but his eyes were as dark and clear as ever.

“How long did you say this drug took to work?” He asked as Artemis scooped up the crystal. She glanced back at Savage, and Wally saw worry flicker across her face before her expression steeled.

“I didn’t.” She adjusted Wally’s position once more before setting off, moving as quickly as they could. She tapped her comms, reporting “I’ve got both Kid Flash and the crystal key with me, and we’re on our way to the rendezvous point. You’ll need to prep for emergency first aid, Kid Flash is badly injured.”

“Got it,” Dick replied, “do you need backup?”

“Negative. We need to get out of here as quickly as possible; I’ve incapacitated Vandal Savage for now, but I’m not sure how long he’s going to stay down.”

“No mindlink?” Wally grunted. Artemis shook her head.

“It’s just me, you, and Nightwing. We left as soon as you disappeared through the portal, and had Zeta’d up to the Watchtower to get Zatanna to try and track Klarion’s magical signature when you called. We ended up taking a Javelin to Warworld so we could get here ASAP.”

The pair lapsed into silence as they rounded a corner. When Wally glanced over at Artemis, her jaw was clenched in the familiar way that meant she was furious.

“Guess we’re even now, huh?” Wally joked.

“Hardly,” Artemis returned. “ _My_ mission was meticulously planned, and I had backup every step of the way. _You_ ran off willy-nilly into a demon portal to play the big-shot hero, a role which you’ve sworn up and down that you hate!”

“Okay, in my defense, actually going through the portal was an accident, and the only reason I chased after Savage was to make sure you never had to–”

Wally was cut off with a loud _whoosh_ noise, and the hallway was suddenly plunged into darkness. Artemis immediately stopped moving, pressing the two of them against the wall. She shrugged Wally’s arm off, and though Wally couldn’t see anything, he heard the quiet _shing_ of her sword being unsheathed.

Before Wally could move to turn on his goggles’ thermal imaging, glowing red lines appeared on the floor ahead of them, quickly swirling to form an occult-looking circle pattern.

“Klarion,” Artemis muttered. As if summoned, Wally heard a familiar scratchy cackle before Klarion stepped out of thin air and into the center of the circle. Teekl followed quickly behind and, after a moment, so did Vandal Savage.

He looked completely unfazed, eyes gazing past Wally to stare at Artemis. She pushed off the wall, sword in one hand and crystal key in the other.

“Looking for this?” she asked, jerking her head towards the key. She tossed it to Wally, who barely managed to catch the heavy rock in his hand. “You’ll have to get through me first.”

Klarion began to move forward, but was stopped with a gesture from Savage, who stepped towards her in his place. “Letting this girl into our ranks was my mistake,” he growled, “and thus it is my duty to rectify it.”

Artemis adjusted her stance until her blade was held high above her head in striking position. Never taking her eyes off of Savage, she said “Kid Flash, you need to go. I’ll find you,”

“There’s no way in hell I’m leaving you behind,” Wally promised, keeping his voice as steady as he could.

Artemis’ mouth twisted, and Wally couldn’t tell if she was trying not to cry or smile. “Okay. With me, then.”

* * *

The sound of broken ceramic scraping across the floor was deafening in the otherwise silent room. Wally stared at his hands, listlessly rubbing the pad of his thumb against the pink skin of his burn. Pain tingled through his leg, but he continued pressing, barely comprehending the sensation.

“Wally.” Dick’s voice was firm, and it made Wally look up. Dick had stopped sweeping and was leaning against the broom. “Don’t mess with your injury.”

Wally didn’t respond, but he let his hand fall to the side. After a moment the sound of Dick’s sweeping resumed.

Wally wasn’t sure how much time had passed before he felt the bed dip. When he looked, Dick was settling in next to him. They made eye contact and Dick sighed, moving his hand to grasp Wally’s.

“I’m sorry for triggering you like that,” Dick said quietly. “I shouldn’t have tried to push you into remembering.”

Wally shrugged slightly. “’S not your fault.”

They lapsed into silence again, unbearable against the tide of Wally’s swarming thoughts. He felt the need to say _something,_ but what the hell could even be said? He took a deep breath, trying to pull himself together. “I just– I can’t believe she’s – _fuck,_ I can’t believe she’s _gone.”_

“Wally…”

“God, I…” Wally trailed off, unshed tears burning at his eyes. “At least tell me you got the damn thing in the end.”

“What?”

“The crystal key. You rescued me somehow, right? Did you at the very least get the crystal key from… from that bastard?”

Dick’s brows furrowed. “Wally, you… you still don’t remember what happened _after_ , do you?”

Wally shook his head minutely. He could picture the moment where Artemis – where she – in picturesque, horrific detail, but every time he tried to push past that, his memories became a blurred miasma of pain and confusion. Flashes of blood, of stars, of strange worlds, but nothing cohesive.

“We don’t have the crystal key,” Dick admitted, “but neither does Savage.”

Wally stared at him blankly until Dick continued. “After – that – you managed to get away somehow. The key was lost in the process, as was Warworld itself. We don’t know where either of them are now, or who has control of them. Not for sure, at least.”

Wally snorted in disbelief. “You lost Warworld? How the hell do you lose something the size of the fucking moon?”

Dick winced. “It _left,_ Wally, and we didn’t follow because there was more important shit going on. You were missing. Artemis was – look, at that point, I couldn’t have care less about the goddamn Warworld, alright? The Light doesn’t have it anymore. It’s returned to being just another pawn in intergalactic politics.”

“Wait, sorry, back up. Did you say I went missing?”

Dick took a deep breath, running a hand through his hair. “I – yeah. You’ve been lost in space for a long time. I’ve been looking for you.”

“How long?”

“Seven months, give or take.”

Wally’s mouth fell open. A thousand questions were running through his head, but the one that he managed to voice was “It’s 2017?”

Dick nodded. “I’m sorry, Wally.”

“God… Aunt Iris and Uncle Barry must be out of their _minds_ with worry.” He looked up suddenly. “Have you told them that you found me? Can – can we even contact them from wherever we are?”

Dick shook his head.

“Fuck. Well, how long will it take to get back to Earth?”

“Wally…” Dick slowly stood up from the bed. “I… listen. Earth isn’t _safe_ for us right now.”

Wally felt his stomach drop. “Did – did the Reach get control of the Earth after all?”

“No,” Dick reassured. “Listen, I will explain everything later, but right now, I need you to trust me. I’m – I’m working on it, I swear, but for now we need to lay low.”

Wally stared at him disbelievingly. “That’s it? That’s all I get? Are you fucking kidding me?”

“For now. I promise I have a plan, okay? Just – if we stick to the plan, it will be _fine._ You’ll get to go home to the people who love you.”

Dick turned, walking briskly to the doorway. Just before he exited, he turned. His expression was rueful. “Get some rest. You must be so tired.”

With that he left, automatic door sliding shut behind him. 

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't posted fanfiction since the ff.net days, so I'm pretty nervous, but the desire to write about The Boys was too great.


End file.
